Some quality leadership could motivate the population to do the things we need to do to start healing this country.
As much as own my family may soon be qualified to queue up with the rest for some kind of aid, I would prefer to me able to hold my head up and earn a living through my own good work.
We need more governmental help for the middle class, (middle class, a club for which I thought I was a lifetime member – but sadly, we have really slipped to the hard working poor.) and more help for the small business; family farms, and more help for USA based businesses that produce more than 75% of their goods in the USA -- This would produce more equity in on our shores - that would stay on our shores. That means more production, more work, more money, more independence, and a reclaiming of reliance on our Countries ability to provide for its own citizens.
The money we have in the USA will only go so far, and in spite of the fact that this may seem counter intuitive, if we only have a limited amount of money (and we do), then I think that the budget for direct aid to people and families should be cut in half. I think that the tax incentives in place and proposed for individuals should be cut back to the bare bones (except for health care – see below).
I also think we have to end aid to developing countries’ too – we can not afford it, and it seems to be putting a band aid on a mortal wound … And we have to face the fact that we have to get our of our occupied countries. Our shot at imperialism missed, and we should just not try to do that any more --- charity, as everything else, starts at home.
Our money spent on aid in the USA should instead be spent on private small sector businesses, farms and individuals who are doing Research and Development, and hiring people who will make more jobs for the USA. Doing this would help to re-vitalize and re-develop a stronger middle class which would then be able re-build our economy and hold government leaders accountable.
Our national, local and family economies will only improve when we have broken our addiction to choices of only bankruptcy or social aid, in the form of some handout.
We have models our country has used before in times of crisis:
Historical Reference:
During the Great Depression of the 1930’s the “Relief” programs started by Herbert Hoover and the U.S. Congress gave handouts to poor and needy. Most people who received this help were humiliated and had only short term help.
But later, the WPA, employed millions of people and helped almost most every part of the United States --it did a lot for the whole country. These programs, started in 1935, and have been credited to the leadership of FDR.
Until the economic war boom in 1943, the WPA was the largest employer in the United States. People who needed jobs – got jobs. People could work up to 30 hours a week, some jobs required people to travel and eat and sleep on the job. The people got training, and got jobs and the country got infrastructure it needed.
The records show that most people who participated were responsible for the support for one to five additional people at home. By 1938 there were 3.8 million people employed. The majority were employed laborers who built thousands of schools, hospitals, playgrounds, libraries, roads, building construction, reforestation, rural rehabilitation, local and National Parks.
But the WPA did the unlikely thing of really supporting the arts too. Public art was created and paid for because it was that important to the well being of the United States. These are some of those projects – the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre Project, the Federal Writers Project and the Historical Records Survey. (Think Mexican muralist Diego Rivera and playwright Odette).
They also provided educational training of the unemployed to make them available for factory jobs.
Some of the infrastructure expenditures were as follows in 1941:
- $4 billion was spent on highway, road, and street projects;
- $1.7 billion on public buildings;
- $1.4 billion on publicly owned or operated utilities
- $1.8 billion on welfare projects including sewing projects for women, the distribution of surplus commodities and school lunch projects
There were criticisms about people not being motivated to finish jobs – actually the in some cases the opposite situation occurred, where people were accused of stretching jobs unnecessarily - jokes about laziness and leaning on shovels – and 5 foremen and 2 workers – no one doing anything, etc. But for the most part, people agreed and supported the creation of jobs. And history appears to support that success – although there are many that believe that it would have failed or petered out if the United States had not entered the war.
Another model the US could follow would be the War Effort of World War II
Since the current President has declared at war on Terrorism and has redirected much of our military machine, finances and resources to the Middle East, toppling and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq after September 11th, 2001 – we have the opportunity, missed by Bush - for a real leader to ask the citizens to participate in more ways than financially bankrupting the populous.
I am sure that others, besides me, were waiting for the President to ask us to ration some resources, make sacrifices (besides our sons and daughters) and maybe buy War Bonds to voluntarily defray some expense.
Historical Model 
At the start of World War II FDR called for the citizens to apply themselves to the war effort in a coordinated mobilization of our country’s resources— agricultural, industrial and human—towards the support of our country at war.
After Pearl Harbor, the military was sent off to fight, men enlisted or were drafted to serve; and at home, citizens contributed to the war effort by rationing consumer goods, recycling materials, purchasing war bonds, and working in war industries.
The government encouraged Americans sacrifice to conserve for the war and recycle materials such as metal, cloth, oils, paper, and rubber --factories then used these for war production. People at home were told that everyday household trash had value: kitchen fats, metals, rags and paper.
Many people grew victory gardens others even kept chickens, rabbits and goats in cities and the country.
War is obviously not a solution to our social /economic problems - especially the devastating economic problems we face today. But here are some of the things that Americans benefited from as a result of that war effort:
- Full employment and a higher overall standard of living.
- Labor grew from 10 million before the war to 15 million after the war.
- Farm incomes reached new highs.
- Wartime investment created an economic boom that lasted for almost two decades after the end of the war.
War Bonds:
War Bonds provided a source of revenue for the war effort. The federal government used War Bonds to sell the war to the Americans as well as a way to raise money. There is something to putting your money where your mouth is.
Summary:
I do not support this war – but we are stuck with it for a while. We need a great leader to face the problems of a country with a deteriorating infrastructure, unemployment, a lack of social endorsement of the federal government -- a great leader can call us to action to rely on ourselves and create jobs, wealth and confidence again.
And as far as I am concerned, health insurance is as much of our infrastructure as the road in front of my house and the bridge over the river. The moment for debating whether or not to have it is past -- we need it to keep our country strong, period.